The impacts of cyclones Sidr and Aila on the health of the coastal people of Bangladesh

Global climate change is now a reality and this change is mainly happening due to global warming. The world has begun to witness the consequences of climate change with the increased frequency of extreme natural events like cyclones, tsunamis, hurricanes and floods. Populations affected by these extreme natural events are left helpless, miserable and in limitless agony. Due to its geographical location, topography, high population density, poverty and lower adaptive competence Bangladesh is considered to be highly vulnerable to natural disasters in the world. Climate changes have triggered an increase in the incidences of natural disasters (like cyclones) over the coastal region of Bangladesh. The coastal part of the country is the most vulnerable and the southwestern part of the coastal area is identified as environmentally handicapped by climate change. Climate change is openly threatening the very existence of people’s lives and livelhoods in Bangladesh. In recent times Bangladesh was hit by two consecutive cyclones Sidr in 2007 and Aila in 2009. The effects of climate change on the environment interacts with the health and population in Bangladesh at numerous complex levels. There are direct health effects through various vector and waterborne diseases, but arguably more important indirect effects as well. So far, little is known about climate change and its impact on human health in Bangladesh. This study was devised following the recent super cyclone Sidr that hit Bangladesh in November 2007 and cyclone Aila that hit in May 2009. The study aims to assess the impact of climate change on health of the coastal population of Bangladesh. This study was conducted in the cyclone Sidr affected area Amtali Upazila of Barguna District and in the cyclone Aila affected area Koyra Upazila of Khulna district. A questionnaire survey was used to collect primary data from households of the affected populations. Focus groups with health service providers of the affected areas was also employed. A mixed method approach was used in this research. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, chi-square, correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. This research concludes that climate change largely affects human health in Bangladesh. Natural disasters due to climate change are affecting the general and mental health of the population of the affected areas. Prevalence of diarrhoea, skin diseases, hepatitis (jaundice) and other infectious diseases has increased after the cyclones. The risk of injury and death also increased during the time of natural disaster. According to the health service providers’, climate change affected the mental status of people. On the other hand, the focus group discussion revealed that women, children and older adults are the most vulnerable group and are facing serious health concerns due to climate change. A majority of the health professionals, service providers and local community of coastal areas of Bangladesh are aware of the health impacts of climate change but their knowledge regarding health protection measures is limited. It is hoped that the findings of this research will have enormous policy implications

The impacts of cyclones Sidr and Aila on the health of the coastal people of Bangladesh

Global climate change is now a reality and this change is mainly happening due to global warming. The world has begun to witness the consequences of climate change with the increased frequency of extreme natural events like cyclones, tsunamis, hurricanes and floods. Populations affected by these extreme natural events are left helpless, miserable and in limitless agony. Due to its geographical location, topography, high population density, poverty and lower adaptive competence Bangladesh is considered to be highly vulnerable to natural disasters in the world. Climate changes have triggered an increase in the incidences of natural disasters (like cyclones) over the coastal region of Bangladesh. The coastal part of the country is the most vulnerable and the southwestern part of the coastal area is identified as environmentally handicapped by climate change. Climate change is openly threatening the very existence of people’s lives and livelhoods in Bangladesh.In recent times Bangladesh was hit by two consecutive cyclones Sidr in 2007 and Aila in 2009. The effects of climate change on the environment interacts with the health and population in Bangladesh at numerous complex levels. There are direct health effects through various vector and waterborne diseases, but arguably more important indirect effects as well. So far, little is known about climate change and its impact on human health in Bangladesh. This study was devised following the recent super cyclone Sidr that hit Bangladesh in November 2007 and cyclone Aila that hit in May 2009. The study aims to assess the impact of climate change on health of the coastal population of Bangladesh. This study was conducted in the cyclone Sidr affected area Amtali Upazila of Barguna District and in the cyclone Aila affected area Koyra Upazila of Khulna district. A questionnaire survey was used to collect primary data from households of the affected populations. Focus groups with health service providers of the affected areas was also employed. A mixed method approach was used in this research. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, chi-square, correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data.This research concludes that climate change largely affects human health in Bangladesh. Natural disasters due to climate change are affecting the general and mental health of the population of the affected areas. Prevalence of diarrhoea, skin diseases, hepatitis (jaundice) and other infectious diseases has increased after the cyclones. The risk of injury and death also increased during the time of natural disaster. According to the health service providers’, climate change affected the mental status of people. On the other hand, the focus group discussion revealed that women, children and older adults are the most vulnerable group and are facing serious health concerns due to climate change. A majority of the health professionals, service providers and local community of coastal areas of Bangladesh are aware of the health impacts of climate change but their knowledge regarding health protection measures is limited. It is hoped that the findings of this research will have enormous policy implications

Can the stock market anticipate future operating performance? Evidence from equity rights issues

This paper examines whether the stock market valuation impact isconsistent with subsequent operating performance of firms. We use datafor equity rights offerings - the widely adopted flotation method inthe Netherlands. We first examine the stock market announcement effectof rights issues and observe that a statistically significant stockprice decline takes place when companies announce rights issues.Further stock price decline is also observed during the subscriptionperiod. We then analyze post-rights issue operating performance offirms and find that, consistent with the announcement period declinein stock price, rights issuing firms subsequently exhibit astatistically significant decline in their operating performance.Additional investigation of both stock and operating performancedecline provides full support for the information asymmetryhypothesis, partial support for the free cash flow hypothesis but nosupport for the window of opportunity hypothesis.firm performance;equity offerings;rights issues;valuation effect

Reanalyzing the upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar perturbation ratio r_T in a quartic potential inflationary model

We study the polynomial chaotic inflation model with a single scalar field in a double well quartic potential which has recently been shown to be consistent with Planck data. In particular, we study the effects of lifting the degeneracy between the two vacua on the inflationary observables, i.e. spectral index n_s and tensor-to-scalar perturbation ratio r_T. We find that removing the degeneracy allows the model to satisfy the upper limit constraints on r_T from Planck data, provided the field starts near the local maximum. We also calculate the scalar power spectrum and non-Gaussianity parameter f_NL for the primordial scalar perturbations in this model.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures; v2: discussion added, submitted to Phys. Lett. B; v3: published versio

Business Groups and Profit Redistribution: A Boon or Bane for Firms

This study investigates how profit redistribution affects the performance of firms affiliated to business groups.It shows that inefficient profit redistribution causes group-affiliated firms to perform poorly relative to independent firms.This underperformance persists even after controlling for other explanations such as diversification and resource transfers to unlisted firms.The study also shows that profit redistribution is more pronounced for groups of larger size and greater corporate control.The results of the study lend support for the inefficient profit redistribution explanation of the 'business group discount'.Business groups;corporate governance;firm performance

The Impact of Ownership Structure on Firm Performance: Evidence From a Large Emerging Market

We examine how ownership structure affects the performance of firms using firm level data from a large emerging market, India.We specifically focus on a previously unexplored phenomenon, namely the differential role played by foreign institutional and foreign corporate shareholders.An examination of more than one thousand Indian listed firms suggests that the positive effect on firm performance of foreign ownership is attributable to foreign corporations that have, on average, a larger shareholding and a higher degree of commitment and long-term involvement.Furthermore, we document the positive influence of domestic corporations, which are by far the largest blockholders with significant monitoring potential.We find an interesting dichotomy in their monitoring influence depending on whether they have a group affiliation.We also perform an analysis of group firms, the results of which generally suggest a negative impact on firm performance.corporate governance;corporate ownership;corporate performance

Spin-1 Kitaev model in one dimension

We study a one-dimensional version of the Kitaev model on a ring of size N, in which there is a spin S > 1/2 on each site and the Hamiltonian is J \sum_i S^x_i S^y_{i+1}. The cases where S is integer and half-odd-integer are qualitatively different. We show that there is a Z_2 valued conserved quantity W_n for each bond (n,n+1) of the system. For integer S, the Hilbert space can be decomposed into 2^N sectors, of unequal sizes. The number of states in most of the sectors grows as d^N, where d depends on the sector. The largest sector contains the ground state, and for this sector, for S=1, d =(\sqrt{5}+1)/2. We carry out exact diagonalization for small systems. The extrapolation of our results to large N indicates that the energy gap remains finite in this limit. In the ground state sector, the system can be mapped to a spin-1/2 model. We develop variational wave functions to study the lowest energy states in the ground state and other sectors. The first excited state of the system is the lowest energy state of a different sector and we estimate its excitation energy. We consider a more general Hamiltonian, adding a term \lambda \sum_n W_n, and show that this has gapless excitations in the range \lambda^c_1 \leq \lambda \leq \lambda^c_2. We use the variational wave functions to study how the ground state energy and the defect density vary near the two critical points \lambda^c_1 and \lambda^c_2.Comment: 12 pages including 3 figures; added some discussion and references; this is the published versio

Physiotherapy effectiveness on muscle strength, flexibility, pain and function in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome

Study objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness on muscle strength, flexibility, pain and function of a six-week physiotherapy treatment for patients with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome delivered in a district North-West Wales National Health Service Hospital. Methods: 26 patients with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (9 males, 16 females) who were referred to the NHS physiotherapy department where asked to complete an AKP Scale and two VASs along with a series of clinical tests that measure lower limb isometric strength and flexibility in two different occasions; The first occasion took place directly after the first treatment session with the physiotherapist; the second occasion took place directly after the last physiotherapy visit which was approximately after 5-8 weeks. Results: The data showed that physiotherapy treatment in patients with PFPS did not improve strength (measured by the lower limb isometric strength tests or flexibility (measured by the modified Thomas and hamstrings flexibility test) however; pain measured by two VASs (one for usual pain and one for pain on the day of the assessment) and function measured by the AKP Scale function, were significantly improved (VASs p<0.02 & AKP Scale p<0.01 ). Conclusions: This study reported that physiotherapy treatment in patients with PFPS works, not through strength and flexibility but through other components. There are several possible explanations for the results of this study. Future studies should aim to identify the different treatment components and which of these really work for patients with PFPS

Population ageing in Bangladesh and its implication on health care

In Bangladesh as in other regions of the world, the population ages 60 years and older is growing faster than the total population. Growth in the elderly population relative to other age groups challenges existing health services, family relationships and social security. With continued population ageing, the loss of cognitive function will potentially cause enormous social and economic burden on families, communities and, to the country. Using the census and secondary data, the paper investigates that increasing longevity and declining fertility are combining to convert the population age structure from young to old. This combination is resulting implications on the family health care and unmet need of health care services in the public sector. The support index shows that there will be fewer persons to support elderly population in future with implications in traditional family care. The care index shows the cost of burden for long term care associated with the shift in the population age structure. As a consequence Bangladeshi societies will confront population aging without traditional kin support